Jan. 1, 2012

Box Score |  Photo Gallery 1  |  Photo Gallery 2 

Site: Evanston, Ill. (Welsh-Ryan Arena)
Score: Northwestern 68, Penn State 56
Records: NU (11-3, 1-1 Big Ten), Penn State (8-7, 0-2 Big Ten)
Next NU Event: Wednesday, Jan. 4 -- vs. Illinois (Welsh-Ryan Arena), 6 p.m.

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern connected on 14 of its first 16 field goal attempts in the second half as the Wildcats surged past Penn State for a 68-56 victory Sunday evening at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

Drew Crawford led NU with 21 points, while freshman Dave Sobolewski chipped in with a career-high 20.

The Wildcats shot 71.4 percent from the field in the second stanza, out-scoring the Nittany Lions 45-30 after the intermission.

Penn State has given NU fits in recent years, and the opening half was no different. The first 20 minutes of play were tightly contested as an early 6-2 lead by the visitors was the largest advantage for either team.

Northwestern took its only lead of the first half at 11-10 on a free throw by Crawford. The Wildcats limited the Nittany Lions to just 25.8 percent shooting (8-31) in the first period, but the visitors crashed the boards for 15 offensive rebounds which led to 11 second-chance points.

PSU would take a 26-23 lead into the break as the Wildcats notched just 19 field goal attempts.

A layup by John Shurna on the first possession of the second half helped NU score 10 of the first 15 points of the period to take a 33-31 lead. Penn State tallied six straight to go up by four when the game turned in Northwestern's favor.

Crawford drove the lane for a bucket before he dished to Sobolewski for a transition triple to give the 'Cats the lead. Knotted at 40 apiece, Alex Marcotullio broke the tie with a 3-pointer before Crawford followed with one of his own. Shurna scored on an athletic tip-in with 11:25 left to put the hosts up by eight, forcing Penn State to burn a timeout.

Jermaine Marshall hit a triple to make it a five-point game, but Crawford responded with one of his own, marking his 1,000th career point. The junior forward became the 31st Northwestern player all-time to achieve the milestone and the 17th in his third season of eligibility.

The Nittany Lions would get back within four, 51-47, with 9:20 remaining, but an alley-oop dunk by Craword off a lob from Shurna started a 13-3 run that increased the lead to 13 and put the game away.

After committing an uncharacteristic eight turnovers in the first half, NU could seemingly do no wrong in the second period as it scorched the nets, hitting 14 of its first 16 attempts from the field en route to a victory in its Big Ten home opener.

The Wildcats shot 55 percent (22-40) from the field for the contest to 34 percent (18-53) for the Nittany Lions. Shurna pitched in with 17 points and eight rebounds, while Luka Mirkovic snared a season-high 11 rebounds.

Northwestern returns to action at 6 p.m. Wednesday as it hosts instate rival Illinois.

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